Edelweiss Audio completed the sound installation at Krasnodar Arena following 18 months of listening tests, design negotiations, new loudspeaker developments and a large-scale installation. From the very beginning, the owners of the state-of-the-art stadium were determined that the sound system and the audio quality would be a priority.

The Funktion-One distributor tendered for the project in early 2014 and was invited to take part in a listening test alongside companies representing most, if not all, of the pro audio manufacturers active in arena/stadium sound. This was the start of an unusually detailed specification process. Having impressed the owners, Edelweiss was then invited back to attend a second round of listening tests featuring a shortlist of companies.

“A number of factors, not least the geometry of the stands, meant that a horn-loaded solution would work best,” explained Edelweiss Audio’s Technical Director Andrei Kremenchugskiy. “We were looking at up to 90-degree coverage, which is very hard to achieve effectively using line-array.”

The owners were sold on the Funktion-One sound, which at the time was demonstrated using Resolution 5s, and appointed Edelweiss as the audio contractor for the project. Edelweiss originally wanted to use Funktion-One MSTs with smaller subs, however, this plan didn’t aIign with the architect’s vision, so a new Funktion-One Evo configuration was developed.

Kremenchugskiy worked closely with John Newsham and others at Funktion-One in the UK to come up with a solution. This resulted in the development of new customised product – the Evo 6EHQ.